Mobile journalism and the professionalization of television news work

Abstract:

This study examines the work habits of and news products produced by local television news journalists, specifically comparing the habits and products of collapsed-task "mobile journalists" and the non-collapsed task journalists who work within the traditional television news crew. The study used the case study format to make this comparison. Through direct observation, semi-structured in-depth interviews and an informal content analysis it applied the theoretical frameworks of professional control and organization structure to collapsed-task and non-collapsed task television news journalists. The variables under study and derived from that literature were expert knowledge, professional autonomy, routinization, technical quality and encroachment from outside professional groups. Findings suggest that the non-collapsed task journalists had a higher degree of expert knowledge and generated news products of higher technical quality. While the collapsed-task journalists believed they had a greater amount of professional control by personally performing more aspects of their occupation, routines and organizational limitations may remove much of that control. While a difference in encroachment could not be found in the news products themselves, observation suggests it may play a greater part in the origination of news products for collapsed-task journalists.

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